Two members of a militia fighting Al-Qaeda and a farmer were killed Monday in attacks in northern Iraq, police officials said.

In Tuz Khurmatu, a town in Salaheddine province 175 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad, three masked men shot dead a local leader of the anti-Qaeda Sahwa militia and a fellow fighter as they travelled in a car, police chief Colonel Khaled al-Bayati said.

He said that after a brief skirmish with the police, the attackers managed to escape into surrounding mountains.

A farmer was also killed and two others wounded Monday in Taza Khurmatu in the province of Kirkuk, 215 kilometres north of Baghdad, by two bombs hidden in their field, a source said.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from a peak of 2006 and 2007, but attacks still continue across the country. There were 112 deaths reported in March.

Fugitive Iraqi VP Hashemi arrives in Istanbul: sources
Istanbul (AFP) April 9, 2012 –

Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is accused of running a death squad in Iraq, arrived in Istanbul Monday from Saudi Arabia, diplomatic sources told AFP.

The details of the Sunni vice president's schedule in Turkey are not clear but he may have talks with Turkish officials, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

Hashemi flew in from Riyadh after spending five days in the Sunni heavyweight kingdom as part of a regional tour he began earlier this month in Qatar.

During his visit to the kingdom, Saudi officials said that Hashemi might remain in the kingdom until his political foe, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, leaves office.

But Hashemi's aides said he would not live in exile and would return to the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, where he has been sheltering since he was accused late last year of running a death squad.

Hashemi's first stop in Qatar sparked criticism from Iraq's Shiite-led government, which demanded that Doha hand him over.

The demand was refused by Doha, further straining ties between Shiite and Sunni rivals of the region.

Hashemi is wanted by the Iraqi government to face terrorism charges in Baghdad, charges he vehemently denies. He has accused Maliki of fabricating them to pave the way for a one-man rule in Iraq.